Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component having a housing and at least two terminal pins protruding from one side of the housing.
A component of this type is, for example, a transistor, or a diode. In the production of components of this type, after completion of the semiconductor processes, it is known to connect terminals of the semiconductor body to terminal pins and to encapsulate the resulting formation in an electrically insulating plastic. The terminal pins, which are to be soldered onto a printed-circuit board, in this case usually protrude from the same side face out of the housing that is formed by the encapsulation.
During the subsequent operation of the component, when a voltage is applied between the terminal pins, leakage currents may occur between the terminal pins at the surface of the side face from which the terminal pins protrude, thereby reducing the dielectric strength of the component considerably.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an electronic component which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art apparatus of this general type. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide an electronic component in which the influence of leakage currents on the dielectric strength is reduced.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an electronic component including a housing having a first side face and at least two terminal pins protruding out of the first side face of the housing. The housing has an isolation barrier that is formed between the two terminal pins.
In the case of the component according to the invention, at least one isolation barrier is provided between the terminal pins on the side face from which the at least two terminal pins protrude out of the housing. This isolation barrier, which preferably consists of the same material as the rest of the housing, extends the leakage path between two neighboring terminal pins and consequently increases the dielectric strength of the component. In the case of conventional components without an isolation barrier, the length of the leakage path between two neighboring terminal pins corresponds to the shortest path connecting these terminal pins. By contrast, the leakage path in the case of the component is increased by twice the height of the isolation barrier, which leads to a considerable gain in dielectric strength.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the isolation barrier between the terminal pins is integrally formed onto the housing. As a result, the housing with the isolation barrier can be produced using a suitable mold in a process step in which the active part of the component with the terminal pins connected to it is encapsulated in a plastic. Instead of an electrically isolating plastic, it is of course possible to use any other desired housing material, for example a ceramic.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the terminal pins protrude out of the housing such that they are arranged in a row next to one another.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, of the two neighboring terminal pins, in each case one terminal pin is arranged closer to a first edge of the side face from which the terminal pins protrude, and that the other terminal pin is arranged closer to a second edge, lying opposite the first edge.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an electronic component with isolation barriers between the terminal pins, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.